


your voice so sweet

by adstalaria



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Crushes, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Singer Minhyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26008156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adstalaria/pseuds/adstalaria
Summary: Hands poised elegantly above the keys of a keyboard. A sweet, honey-like voice singing into the microphone. A stage lit up by glowing fairy lights.The perfect setting to fall in love.This is what Jonghyun thinks, as he watches the prettiest man he's ever seen perform on stage like he's been born to.
Relationships: Hwang Minhyun/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Comments: 14
Kudos: 32
Collections: Nu'fics x The Parallel





	your voice so sweet

**Author's Note:**

> musician au written for nu'fics' the parallel fic fest!
> 
> i've honestly wanted to write a 2hyun fic since forever ago so here is my first foray into the nu'est tag haha thanks to nu'fics for inspiring me to be productive last minute so i wrote this in like two days with minimal editing please enjoy!!

Hands poised elegantly above the keys of a keyboard. A sweet, honey-like voice singing into the microphone. A stage lit up by glowing fairy lights.

The perfect setting to fall in love.

This is what Jonghyun thinks, as he watches the prettiest man he's ever seen perform on stage like he's been born to. It's honestly what he always thinks every night he comes to the cafe to watch him perform, enamored by those gentle sounds and dulcet tones.

But Jonghyun is merely a fan, a faraway admirer, sitting meters away behind a table near the corner of the room. He doesn't even know the man's name, despite the fact that he comes to sing every other week for the cafe's open mic night. Jonghyun feels, literally and figuratively, miles away from this young, talented musician.

It had started when he first went to the cafe's open mic night upon the insistence of the establishment's owner, his close friend Dongho. And Jonghyun, being the home body that he always was, had been reluctant to go at first. Eventually—with a lot of annoying from Dongho and subsequently, his boyfriend Minki—he went out of his comfort zone and agreed to go. Alone. Because they were traitors and weren't even going to be moral support for him, insisting that they had too much work behind the counter to be with him.

He had been expecting some try-hard poets or guitar-playing heartthrob wannabes, but what showed up had been an angel with a melodic voice and ethereal looks. Jonghyun has been smitten ever since day one.

That's precisely why he's been coming to every open mic night, hoping to see the man and hear him sing songs that Jonghyun's never heard before but falls in love with because it's him singing. Jonghyun sits, nursing a cup of hot cocoa from Dongho, listening to the soothing sounds of the man's singing and the piano accompanying it. Sometimes, when he feels bold, he closes his eyes and pretends that there isn't a whole room separating them, and that the man would be right there next to him, serenading him with his beautiful voice and whispering words of affection into his ears.

Pure delusional fantasies, but Jonghyun could always dream. Dream of scenario after scenario in which they meet after the performance and get to know each other—even become friends or maybe a little more, when he's feeling brave.

But when he opens his eyes and is sent back to the dimly lit cafe, he can only feel the difference between the two of them even more. He might not know the man on stage personally, but with that much oozing talent, he's surely leagues above Jonghyun. He probably wouldn't even look in his direction if he weren't trying to please the crowd.

Which is exactly what the man is doing now, turning away from the keyboard to take told of the microphone. He looks out into the audience with a mesmerizing smile. There's a reason why he's one of the more popular performances of the night, and it's not only because of his talented singing.

"Does anyone have any requests?" he asks, tapping the base of the microphone idly with his pinky finger. His speaking voice is much lower than his singing voice—a velvety low in contrast to airy tones—and that duality has driven Jonghyun crazy more times than he could count.

Hands go up, song names are called out, and Jonghyun keeps his hands glued to his cup. He has a million things he wants to suggest, having spent long sleepless nights thinking about what songs would suit the man's voice perfectly. The embarrassingly long list of songs sits on the notes app of his phone, burning a hole into his pocket.

The man's eyes scan through the audience, over the already held up hands, and lands on the corner of the room. Directly in Jonghyun's direction.

"How about you, _Mr. Wartortle_?"

Jonghyun blinks dumbly in his seat. He almost doesn't realize that _Mr. Wartortle_ is referring to himself until he looks down and remembers that he had worn one of his Pokemon hoodies tonight. His face goes hot with embarrassment. Now the cool, pretty singer knows him as a grown man wearing a Wartortle hoodie. Out of all the fantasies he's had of getting noticed, none of them included getting humiliated in front of a live audience.

And now all the attention is on him.

He fumbles, looking around for anyone else who could possibly be _Mr. Wartortle_ , until he realizes with finality that yes, it's definitely him. The other patrons are looking at him, some more conspicuous than others, but they feel like nothing compared to the starry-eyed stare of the man on stage.

He's put on the spot, nervous and fidgety. "Um," he mumbles, wracking his head for a song name. Despite having come up with an extensive list already, his mind draws blank, completely out of his element when there are eyes burning into him. He clears his throat to buy time.

The pretty singer is still smiling patiently, seeming amused at Jonghyun's nervousness. And that makes Jonghyun kind of feel like crying, because he's probably thinking how utterly hopeless Jonghyun is and finding it funny. Nothing is going right and Jonghyun feels like he can never come back to this cafe ever again.

"Uh, y-your name?" Jonghyun blabbers out, his nerves getting to him so much that he seems to have forgotten his common sense and impulse control. His face feels so hot that he might pass out from heat stroke; so ashamed that he just wants to crawl into a hole and never come back out.

He doesn't know what to expect, but it certainly isn't for the cute singer to laugh into the microphone. Even his laugh sounds pretty.

"I'm not sure if I know that song, sorry," he says, the smile still wide on his face. "But how about a song I wrote myself, then?" He turns to look at the other members of the audience, who cheer and clap encouragingly at the mention of an original performance. He continues, a hint of shyness in his voice, "Alright, this is the first time I'll be singing this in front of an audience, so I hope you all enjoy it."

Jonghyun's hands release from their balled fists, only now realizing that he's had them like that for the entire exchange. He breathes out a heavy breath, relieved that his dumb outburst had been decently accepted and even resulted in the performance of an original song the other man wrote himself. He's only ever sung covers of preexisting songs while on stage, so the one last song Jonghyun can listen to before he decides he can never come back ever again would at least be a significant one.

"This next song is called _Daybreak_ ," the man says into the mic, adjusting it slightly to face the keyboard. His eyes dart to Jonghyun again, giving him a cheeky wink. "This one's for you, _Mr. Wartortle_."

Jonghyun feels his heart stop and before he knows it, the piano has started playing and the man's smooth singing fills his ears.

Jonghyun sighs and listens to the breathtakingly beautiful song, comforted by the very voice that haunts his dreams.

Apparently, agreeing to come to open mic night also meant agreeing to be a part of the cleanup staff with Dongho and Minki. He stays behind after all the performances end and the customers start trailing out of the cafe, ready to head back home after a fun night of flexing their creative muscles.

He doesn't really mind helping out, because he'd be at home wasting away in front of his computer if he weren't here, and his friends have always said that he should go outside and do things more. He practically has a second job here with how much labor he's already put in. If only Dongho would pay him as much.

Cleanup takes slower than usual, due to the devilish combination of Dongho and Minki relentlessly making fun of him for the earlier incident with Jonghyun's hopeless crush. He couldn't even wipe down one table without one of them calling him _Mr. Wartortle_ and imitating his pitiful full brain shutdown during the song requests.

Maybe he really should go through with the idea of never coming back ever again. It would save whatever dignity he has left, at the very least.

When he finally finishes with the last table and stacks up the chairs, he says his goodbyes to the other two, who still have to stay behind to lock up.

"Good night, _Mr. Wartortle_." Dongho snickers, waving to him from behind the counter.

"Good night, _asshole_ ," Jonghyun grumbles, slamming the door closed with a little more force than he probably should and leaving the loud combined laughter of the couple behind him. He sighs again for what feels like the hundredth time that night and turns heel to walk off, only to be stopped by a familiar voice.

"Uh, that 'asshole' doesn't refer to me, I hope?"

Jonghyun literally jumps out of his skin in surprise. He whips around towards the voice he's come to know so well, and is met with the object of his affections standing right there near to the entrance of the cafe.

While not as ethereal and angelic as he normally looks on stage when washed over with artificial mood lighting, he still looks breathtakingly beautiful when lit by the fluorescent lights of the stores around them. He's bundled up in an expensive looking coat and matching colored scarf that clearly isn't helping him keep warm judging from how red his nose is.

His dark eyes bore into Jonghyun.

It isn't until he hears a car horn blare in the distance that Jonghyun realizes that he has yet to say anything. "Oh! I'm sorry, uh, I definitely wasn't talking about you. I was talking about a friend. I didn't even notice you were there and um, yeah." Jonghyun finishes awkwardly, knowing that he's rambling and mentally kicking himself over it.

The other man smiles slightly, almost unnoticeable save for the slight upward tip of the corners of his lips. "That's good. For a moment, I thought you were angry about what happened earlier." He pauses to run his tongue over his lips, and Jonghyun can't help but follow the motion with his eyes. "I apologize for that, by the way, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Oh. No, it's okay!" Jonghyun shakes his head, waving it off quickly. "It's-It's fine, really." It's not fine; this is terrible. He's finally talking to the man he literally daydreams about on a regular basis and he can't even form a proper sentence. He is truly a hopeless mess. "Um. What are you doing out here anyways?"

He's never seen the other man outside of open mic night and most certainly not when he leaves later than the rest of the customers. The other man's strange elusivity has become a common source of Minki's wild imagination too many times to count.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was waiting for you?" the man answers with his own question.

Jonghyun's eyes widen. "What?" He looks at the cold flush across the other man's face and his tousled up hair, and figures that the man must have been waiting outside in the cold the entire time that Jonghyun stayed back to help. He doesn't know if he should feel flattered or bad that the man waited for him.

"I thought you would leave when everyone else did, but I didn't see you, so I waited."

So Jonghyun chooses to feel bad. "I'm really sorry," he says. "I usually stay behind to help with cleanup since I'm friends with the owner."

"Ah, so that explains it," the other man nods to himself. He turns to Jonghyun, smiling wider than ever before. "Well, you're here now, so all that waiting paid off in the end."

Jonghyun feels his pitiful heart skip a beat. He's always thought the singer had a pretty smile, but it's even prettier up close. Having it be directed at him like this makes Jonghyun feel like he's the only other person in the universe. It's almost scary how intimate it feels.

"I wanted to hear your thoughts about my song, if that's alright with you."

The request confuses Jonghyun. He isn't a music expert and he barely even knows the ins and outs of songwriting. If the other man wanted critique on his music, he would have a much better chance asking Dongho than he would Jonghyun.

"Well," Jonghyun begins, picking at the thread of his hoodie to give his clammy hands something to occupy themselves with. "It was great. And the audience really liked it, too. I think they clapped louder back there than they ever did with anyone else."

The man's smile turns slightly awry. "Thanks, but that's not what I was asking. I wanted to know what _you_ thought of it."

"Ah, uhm." And Jonghyun starts feeling nervous again, much like when he was put on the spot during the performance. "Does my opinion matter that much?"

"Of course it does," the man responds, his voice firm with unexpected conviction. "I told you back there, didn't I? It was for you. I want to know if you liked it."

Jonghyun feels his stomach flip into his throat. He doesn't think he can keep eye contact any longer and stares off to the side, finding a stain on the sidewalk particularly fascinating. “It was really good," Jonghyun chokes out, too distracted by the rapid beating of his heart to process a coherent thought. "I mean, you're always really good but that song—the one you wrote, it was _beautiful_." Right when he finishes, heat begins to rush up into his cheeks.

“That’s a relief,” the man breathes out like he had been holding in his breath. “You don’t know how much it means to hear you say that.”

The words wash warmly over him, making him think of hopeful thoughts that _maybe_ this conversation is heading towards something he hasn’t ever dared to imagine happening outside of his dreams.

“The lyrics,” Jonghyun continues.“Did you write them yourself?” He dares to peek at the other’s direction, freezing up when their eyes meet. He feels entranced and caught, just like how he feels whenever he listens to him sing.

The man’s eyes shine in the night. “I had a good muse.”

“Yeah?” Jonghyun feels the beginnings of a smile on his lips.

“Mm-hm,” the man hums. “A very cute one who wears Pokemon hoodies and drinks hot cocoa.”

Jonghyun feels himself flush, but without the all too familiar feeling of dread that is usually paired with it. Instead, it makes his heart race and his feet feel light. It’s a nice feeling.

“Not cute enough to ask for his name?”

Now it’s the other man’s turn to be embarrassed, an attractive pink upon his pale cheeks. “More like, ‘too cute to approach him to ask for his name despite having written a million songs about him’,” he mumbles past the scarf.

It’s cute. A bit different from the image he gives off when he’s on stage, but it’s endearing and Jonghyun can’t say that he doesn’t like this never seen side of him. It feels like he’s being let in on a secret; seeing a part of him that no one else in that crowd knows.

“I’m Jonghyun,” he says, realizing that neither of them had introduced themselves yet. He adds, feeling a little bold, “Not _Mr. Wartortle_.”

The other man laughs, eyes crinkling into little crescent moons. “I’m Minhyun.”

Minhyun. It’s a nice name—much better than the ones Jonghyun had come up with in his mind.

“Well, Minhyun.” The name sounds good, rolling off his tongue like a familiar lyric. “What other songs do you know?”

“I wouldn’t mind giving an encore performance to show you,” Minhyun says, taking a step closer. “I have so many more songs I want to sing for you.” It’s enough distance that their knuckles barely brush against each other. If either one of them were to reach out they’d be able to tangle their fingers together.

Jonghyun wonders if they’re close enough that Minhyun could hear the beating of his heart.

“I think I’d like that,” he whispers, knowing that Minhyun can still hear him. “I’d like that a lot.”

Minhyun’s grin looks the brightest he’s ever seen. “I—”

And suddenly, the sound of loud tapping on glass comes from behind them, surprising both of them and causing them to step apart and look back.

It’s Dongho and Minki, joined by their third employee Aaron. Minki is leaning over a table, shoulders wracking with laughter while Dongho looks like he has half a mind to get out there himself and tell them to quit loitering around his property. Aaron, ever the kind one, gives them a proud thumbs up.

And Jonghyun is mortified. He turns his back to them as quick as he can, running an exasperated hand down his face. “Oh God. I’m _so_ sorry. Please ignore them.”

“It’s okay.” Minhyun looks equally as embarrassed, looking down at his feet.

“I should probably be heading back anyways. It’s getting late.” Jonghyun doesn’t actually know what time it is, or how long they’ve been talking in front of the cafe like this, but he definitely is not continuing their previous conversation in plain sight of three of his friends.

Minhyun’s head shoots back up. “I’ll walk you home.”

Jonghyun smiles. “If you promise to let me hear some of those million other songs you wrote sometime soon.”

Minhyun beams back at him, stepping forward to take a hold of his hand. “I’ll do you one better. This song is called _Moon Dance_ …”

And Jonghyun listens just like he always does, letting the gentle lull of Minhyun’s sweet voice fill in the gaps of silence as they make the slow walk back to his apartment.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! comments are very much appreciated <3
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/kihyukest)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/adstalaria)


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